Typically, a data packet received in a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network device may be transmitted between network devices in accordance with a label switched path (LSP) label attached to the data packet. Existing methods of processing the data packet at each network device may involve using the LSP label applied to the received data packet or an exp field value contained in the received labeled data packet to determine the queue on which the packet needs to be enqueued within the device to the device switching fabric and on egress transmission links to the next device. That is, the label or exp value determines the scheduling behavior, associated with the queue, at a network device. A queue is normally allocated a scheduling priority relative to other queues on the same transmission link or a bandwidth share on that link. While such packet processing capabilities provide for differentiated treatments of packets, they are insufficient. With exp-based queuing of labeled packets, all labeled packets with the same exp value share the same queue but an LSP can carry traffic that receive one or more scheduling behaviors. With label-based queuing of LSPs, an LSP can carry traffic from one scheduling class. Therefore, there is a need to determine the scheduling class of an LSP labeled data packet based on both the LSP label and exp value.